A low-profile receptacle connector for use in making a required electric connection between an integrated circuit package and a printed circuit board includes a terminal housing part that is sandwiched between the integrated circuit package and the printed circuit board, and the terminal housing part has terminals embedded therein. Each terminal includes a flat trunk and at least one cantilever-like contact arm integrally connected to its flat trunk. The terminals are arranged with their flat trunks parallel to the plane of the terminal housing part, and are supported by the terminal housing part by allowing the mold to overhang the opposite lateral and longitudinal edges of the trunk of each terminal.
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1. A receptacle connector for effecting an electrical connection between an integrated circuit package having a plurality of contacts disposed thereon, and a printed circuit board having a plurality of contact pads formed thereon, the receptacle connector comprising:
an insulative connector housing for interposing between the integrated circuit package and the printed circuit board in use, the connector housing being formed from a plastic and including a plurality of cavities formed therein, each of the cavities opening to opposite surfaces of said connector housing; and, a plurality of conductive terminals embedded in said connector housing, each of the terminals being disposed in a single one of said cavities, the terminals including body portions extending across connector housing cavities, the terminal body portions having a plurality of edges, said terminals including pairs of terminal retention members disposed along two opposing edges of said body portions, the terminal retention members being molded into said connector housing to thereby hold said terminals in place, at least one of said terminal retention member including a retention stub formed by bending said terminal upon itself, said terminals further including contact arms that extend away from said terminal body portions and project exterior of said connector housing for contacting said contacts or contact pads.
18. A receptacle connector for effecting an electrical connection between an integrated circuit package having a plurality of contacts disposed thereon, and a printed circuit board having a plurality of contact pads formed thereon, the receptacle connector comprising:
an insulative connector housing for interposing between the integrated circuit package and the printed circuit board in use, the connector housing including a plurality of cavities formed therein, each of the cavities opening to opposite surfaces of said connector housing; and, a plurality of conductive terminals embedded in said connector housing, each of the terminals being disposed in a single one of said cavities, the terminals including body portions extending across connector housing cavities, the terminal body portions having a plurality of edges, said terminals including pairs of terminal retention members disposed along two opposing edges of said body portions, the terminal retention members extending into said connector housing to thereby hold said terminals in place, at least one of said terminal retention member including a retention stub formed by bending said terminal upon itself, said terminals further including contact arms that extend away from said terminal body portions and project exterior of said connector housing for contacting said contacts or contact pads, each of said terminals including a spherical contact applied to said terminal and disposed on a side thereof opposite said contact arm.
12. A connector for connecting together an integrated circuit package having a plurality of contacts disposed thereon, and a printed circuit board having a plurality of contact pads formed thereon, the connector comprising:
an insulative housing having a plurality of sidewalls that cooperatively define a receptacle of said connector for receiving the integrated circuit package, the connector housing including a plurality of terminal-receiving cavities formed therein and arranged within the receptacle, each of the terminal-receiving cavities opening to opposite surfaces of said housing; and, a plurality of conductive terminals disposed in said terminal-receiving cavities, a single one of the terminals being disposed in a single cavity, each of the terminals including a terminal body portion extending horizontally within its associated terminal-receiving cavity, the terminal body portion having a plurality of edges, two terminal retention members disposed along two opposing edges of said body portion and a contact arm that extend away from said terminal body portion and projecting exterior of said connector housing, the two terminal retention members being embedded in said housing to thereby hold said terminal in place within said housing and in said terminal-receiving cavity, at least one of said terminal retention members including a retention stub formed by bending said terminal upon itself at one of said two opposing edges of terminal body portion, each of said terminal body portions extending horizontally within said terminal-receiving cavities, said terminal retention arms extending vertically away from said terminal body portions and said terminal retention stubs extending horizontally away from said terminal body portions.
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The present invention relates generally to receptacle connectors, and more particularly, to receptacle connectors that are used to make connections between an integrated circuit ("IC") package having numerous contacts, such as a BGA or LGA contacts, and a printed circuit board having numerous contacts pads formed thereon.
The presence of these retainers 306 formed in, or as part of the terminal housing 301 prevents the reduction of the connector housing thickness. The conventional receptacle connector of
The present invention is directed to an improved receptacle connector that overcomes the aforementioned disadvantages.
Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention is to provide a receptacle connector having a reduced thickness.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a low-profile receptacle connector for BGA or LGA applications, the connector including a thin housing in the form of a socket, the socket having a plurality of cavities formed therein, a plurality of terminals disposed in the cavities, each of the terminals having a flat terminal body portion with at least two opposing edges, the terminal including a terminal retention arm extending in one direction from one of the two terminal body portion edges and a terminal retention stub extending in a second direction from the other of the two terminal body portion edges, the terminal flat body portion having shape that permits it to be held in place within a molding cavity such that molding material from which the connector housing is formed may flow around the terminal retention arm and stub to retain the terminal in place within the connector housing, thereby eliminating the need for forming terminal retainers in the connector housing associated with each connector housing cavity.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a terminal for use in reduced-height connector housings, and the terminal including a flat body portion, the body portion having at least two opposing edges, a retention arm extending away from the terminal body portion in one direction and along one of the two edges thereof, a retention stub extending away from the body portion in a second direction and along the other of the two edges thereof, and a contact arm extending away from the terminal body portion in a cantilevered fashion for making contact with an opposing contact pad on a circuit member to which the connector housing is mounted.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a terminal as described above, but with the terminal having two retention stubs at two opposing ends of the terminal body portion, each of the retention stubs extending into the connector housing and serving to retain the terminal in place within the connector housing, the terminal having a pair of contact arms extending away from the terminal body portion in a cantilevered fashion for making contact with opposing contact pads on circuit members flanking the connector housing.
To attain these and other objects, the present invention provides a receptacle connector for connecting an IC package with numerous contacts such as a BGA or LGA type contacts to a circuit board having numerous contact pads disposed thereon, the connector including an insulative housing interposed between the IC package and the circuit board, the housing having a plurality of terminals embedded therein for making connections between the IC package contacts and the contact pads of the circuit board. This structure is improved by forming the terminals in a desired manner such that each terminal includes comprises a flat trunk, or body portion and at least one cantilever-like contact arm integrally connected to the flat body. The terminals are preferably arranged in the connector housing with their flat bodies parallel to a plane of the terminal housing, and are preferably supported by the terminal housing in a manner so that the molded portions of the housing overhangs the opposite longitudinal and lateral edges of the terminal flat bodies.
The terminals may take one or two embodiments. In one embodiment, a retention arm extends upwardly from the plane of the terminal body portion at an angle thereto, and a retention stub extends away from the terminal body portion in the same plane as the body portion. Both the retention arm and the retention stub are held in place within a molding cavity so that the connector housing material may be molded around them to anchor the terminals in place within the connector housing. In this embodiment, the flat body portion is exposed on one side of the connector housing cavity that communicates with the terminal, so that an element, such as a solder ball may be attached thereto.
In another embodiment of the invention, two retention stubs extend in the same plane as the terminal body portion and extend away therefrom. The terminal is bent upon itself to form the retention stubs so as to define a cantilevered contact arm that extends away from the terminal at the flat body portion and at the portion where the terminal is retained in the connector housing, and in this second embodiment of the invention, two such cantilevered contact arms are thereby defined that extend from the terminal in opposite directions so that the connector using such terminals may be interspersed between two circuit members, or circuit boards.
With this arrangement, the connector terminals are firmly held in place by molded portions of the connector housing, thereby eliminating the forming of such retainers as in conventional receptacle connectors. Thus, the thickness of the receptacle connector can be reduced. This structure also advantageously prevents the staining, or contamination, of the terminals and their contacts with soldering flux. It also prevents the attachment of hairs, whiskers or strands of solder from adhering to the terminal contacts.
In the area where the cantilevered contact arms are formed, each terminal may have a "U"-shaped joint formed at its body-to-contact arm transition area where the terminal is bent upon itself, and the molded connector housing overlies these "U"-shaped joints to retain the terminals in place. The body portion of the terminal may also serve as a contact by supporting a selected spherical contact of the IC package, such as a solder ball, and permitting it to be applied to the center of the terminal body portion. Each terminal may have two cantilever-like contact arms integrally connected to the opposite lateral edges of the trunk.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be clearly understood through a consideration of the following detailed description.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be understood from the following description of connectors according to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, which are shown in accompanying drawings, in which:
Referring first to
The conductive terminals 2 of the connector assembly 1 are also preferably stamped out of a sheet of metal. As shown in
Such terminals 2 are housed in recesses, or cavities 6, that are formed on the bottom of the receptacle housing 4 in the form of lattice, or other suitable arrangement. Each terminal 2 is housed in a selected recess 6 with its flat body portion 10 laid on the bottom of the receptacle housing recess, and the longitudinal and lateral opposite edges of the flat body portion 10, namely retention arm 11 and the U-shaped retention stub 13 to be embedded in a mold for the receptacle connector. Thus, with elements 11 and 13 extending into the area that is covered with the housing molding material, the terminals 2 are firmly held in the housing mold, while still retaining a good resilience in its protruding cantilevered contact arm 14.
More specifically, each terminal 2 of the type illustrated in
Referring now to
Referring to
As may be understood from the above, all the terminals 2 are arranged with their flat body portions 10, 23 parallel to the opposing major surfaces of the receptacle housing 4, and their retention arms and stubs at the lateral edges 11, 13 are embedded in the mold. Thus, the distance between the IC package 3 and the circuit board 8, and hence the profile of the receptacle connector assembly 1 can be reduced to possible minimum. Moreover, each terminal is free of being stained with soldering flux or free of solder being attached in the form of whiskers or strands, thanks to the "U"-shaped joint being embedded in the mold.
In
Referring now to
While the preferred embodiment of the invention have been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined by the appended claims.
Mizumura, Akinori, Noda, Atsuhito, Tetsuka, Yoshihiro
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Executed on | Assignor | Assignee | Conveyance | Frame | Reel | Doc |
Jan 30 2002 | Molex Incorporated | (assignment on the face of the patent) | / | |||
Mar 05 2002 | NODA, ATSUHITO | Molex Incorporated | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 012761 | /0080 | |
Mar 05 2002 | MIZUMURA, AKINORI | Molex Incorporated | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 012761 | /0080 | |
Mar 05 2002 | TETSUKA, YOSHIHIRO | Molex Incorporated | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 012761 | /0080 |
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